Since its inception, the radio has evolved in terms of technology and quality of sound, but not in terms of becoming interactive. People frequently are exposed to music, a program or an advertisement playing over broadcast radio or the like, while at home, on the beach, in the car, etc; or they might like to donate to a radio station or a charitable cause or even cast a vote on a song or a poll being conducted “on the air.” These actions may be inconvenient or impossible, depending on the user's current location and activity, for example driving a car. Some states and localities have imposed limitations on the use of cell phones, for example, while a user is driving.
Sometimes, a radio listener (hereinafter called the “customer” or “user”) hears advertisements played over broadcast radio or the like at various locations where it may be inconvenient to make a note of the product or service being advertised. If the customer does not have an immediate access to the information, or cannot store that information, there will be a protracted delay between the time when they are initially exposed to the advertising and develop interest in the product or service, and the time where they actually have the opportunity to act on that interest. When they do finally have the opportunity to purchase the product, their impulse to purchase may have diminished or they may not even remember the name of the advertiser, product or service that they wish to purchase. The immediacy of the information and their interest has waned, and therefore the sale is lost.
Sometimes a listener would like to donate to a charitable cause or a radio station during a “pledge drive,” but she is driving or may be in an inconvenient location at the time the solicitation is heard. She therefore may be unable to call in or access a corresponding online site and respond to the solicitation as she would have liked. At a later stage, however, her impulse to donate may have diminished or she may not even remember the telephone number to call to donate or make a pledge. The immediacy of the information and the listener's interest has waned, and consequently the donation is lost.
Similarly, the user frequently likes the song or the program he is hearing and would like to purchase that track or the album or a copy of the transcript but he is where is may be inconvenient to make a note or cannot later remember the name of that song or program. Thus there will be a protracted delay between the time when they are initially exposed to the song or program and develop interest in the product, and the time where they actually have the opportunity to act on that interest. When they do finally have the opportunity to purchase the product, their impulse to purchase may have diminished or they may not even remember the name of the item they wish to purchase. The immediacy of the information and their interest has waned, and again a potential sale is lost.
Similar challenges exist in connection with television; here there are at least two distinct scenarios. First, the matter of traditional television advertising, and second, a scenario where a customer sees a particular product or service within the television programming itself, as distinguished from a televised advertisement, and wants to buy that item. To illustrate the latter scenario, for example, suppose a customer is watching a movie, where a new cell phone is featured, and it looks great, but the customer may not even be able to see what brand of phone it is. As another example, the customer is watching a TV program, such as a cooking show, and the customer wants to get the recipe, the frying pan, the book, the glassware being used on the show. Currently, there is no convenient way for the viewer to not only identify, but immediately purchase the item of interest. A bevy of TV “shopping channels” invite viewers to call a live operator (who is “standing by”) by telephone, and conduct a voice conversation to place an order, which includes reciting credit card information, shipping address, etc. The process is unduly burdensome and slow, and of course purchases are limited to what is offered for sale explicitly on that show at that time.
What is needed is a way for a customer to immediately and easily capture the relevant information in response to hearing programming content or advertisements, so that at a later stage when they have access to a computer or wireless access to a network, they can examine the automatically identified product and purchase the desired product or service with a simple action that does not require web surfing or internet research.